Celtic Rugby confirms talks with S Africa over Pro 12 expansion

CAPE TOWN, July 19 (Reuters) - Celtic Rugby have confirmed that "advanced and positive discussions" are taking place with South African Rugby for the introduction of two new sides into the Pro 12 competition for the 2017/18 season.

Although not named in a statement from Celtic Rugby on Wednesday, reports in Ireland suggest that those two teams will be the Southern Kings and Cheetahs, who have been axed from the Southern Hemisphere club championship, Super Rugby, from 2018 as that competition is downsized from 18 teams to 15.

The Pro 12 is looking to head in the other direction, expanding to new frontiers in order to open up new revenue streams as it falls well behind the English Premiership and France´s Top 14 in terms of income.

"Advanced and positive discussions are taking place with the South African Rugby Union regarding the introduction of two teams into an expanded Pro 12 Championship. Given the proximity of the 2017/18 season start, a final decision on this potential expansion will be confirmed as soon as practical," Celtic Rugby said.

Celtic Rugby is the association of Irish, Welsh, Scottish and Italian Rugby Unions, whose club sides make up the Pro 12.

Adding the Cheetahs and Kings will bring new broadcast markets, with local media reporting the deal is likely to generate an extra six million pounds ($8 million) per annum, on top of current revenues of 12 million pounds per year. Negotiations are also underway with clubs in North America and other parts of Europe.

Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) chief executive Philip Brown admitted last week that the competition needed expansion, even if that meant logistical challenges in bringing in teams from outside of Europe.

"The risk of doing nothing with the Pro 12 in the long term is the greater risk," he told the Irish Independent newspaper.

South African media reported on Tuesday that two more of the country´s Super Rugby franchises had expressed an interest in moving to the European competition when their contracts with the Southern Hemisphere edition expire in 2020.

The long and difficult travel across time zones to New Zealand, Australia, Japan and Argentina is taxing on the players and not ideal for television schedules, which has left the teams looking north instead. ($1 = 0.7679 pounds) (Reporting By Nick Said; Editing by Christian Radnedge)